英语论文网

fmy neighbor' s mansion and was standing with his hands in his pocket s regarding the silver pepper of thestars. Something in his leisurely movements and the secure posi t ion of his feet upon the lawn suggested thatit was Mr. Gat sby himself, come out to determine what share was his of our local heaven……But I didn' tcall to him, for he gave a sudden int imat ion that he was content to be alone ——he str etched out his armstoward the dark water in a curious way, and, far as I was from him, I could have sworn he was t rembl ing.Involuntarily I glanced seaward —— and dist inguished nothing except a single green light , minute and farway, that might have been the end of a dock. When I looked once more for Gat sby he had vanished, and Iwas alone again in the unquiet darkness. ”T his spectacle is also Nick' s fi rst view of Gat sby. Gat sby seemsalmost to be engaged in some sort of myst ic ri te. He turns towards the Buchanan mansion across the bay—— where a single green light gleams the Buchnan dock. Slowly he str etches out his hands to the gr eenlight , in a gesture like that of a worshipper before a shrine. And then he vanishes, leaving Nick alone in the“ unquiet darkness” . And indeed Gatsby is a worshipper befor e a shrine —— indeed the green www.51lunwen.orglightrepresent ing his love for the Goddess —— Daisy Buchnan. Gat sby, at any rate, does not “ want”Daisy asshe exist s; he wants his Golden Girl , his Golden Dream of five years before. T hat this Dream has actuallylived wi th another man for five year s, ——even more intolerable —— had actually borne a child by him——has no part in his vision. One cannot , after all , imagine a “ dr eam girl”in a state of pregnancy. Gat sby,again, has devoted all his “ magic”to an image, which no longer exist s; he always wants to catch something,which will never come t rue —— and this defines both the purity of his r omanticism, and the pathos of hisinnocence. In a basic sense, Gat sby has not only ideal ized reality, but has r eplaced reality wi th the “ Ideal” .What' s more, Gat sby is incapable of recognizing the ashes of what Daisy repr esent s ——and indeed, takesthe emptiness for substance, and the ashes for some jewel of ul timate value. In r eligious terms, Gat sby' sdevot ion to a “ Goddess”made of t infoil and rot ten gumdrops is a waste of human resources, which is basic to“ T he Gr eat Gat sby” . He is indeed watching over “ nothing” —— a nothingness which is indeed the essence ofthe dream of Jay Gat sby, and perhaps the dream of American “ success”as well.
1. 2　The desire for moneyFor Gat sby, indeed, from his adolescence, in shor t , Gatz- Gat sby had been pursuing the Holy Glow ofsome vaguely imagined “ success” , an “ ident ity”gleaming l ike a mirage just over the hor izon of tomorrow.He is deluded by the belief that everything is determined by the effort s of individuals; and moneymaking willpr ovide him with social posit ion or help pr eser ve youth. Gat sby actual ly begins by st riving for advancementin Alger method with his daily schedule and with the intent ion to work his way through college as a janitor.However he stays at college only for two weeks, before abandoning the approved Alger route to success, andtaking the one offered by Dan Lody. After he finally makes great success in the physical aspect , Gat sbybecomes focus on the unworthy and mortal Daisy, whom he has lost ever because of his lack of money. ForGat sby no less than for Myrt le Wilson